All very deserving of the honor
With the 2024 regular season nearly complete, the time has come for the National Football League to announce the players who have been named to the rosters for this year’s Pro Bowl Games. Those announcements have just come down, and six members of the Minnesota Vikings have been named to this year’s NFC squad, with all three phases of the game being represented.
On offense, quarterback Sam Darnold and wide receiver Justin Jefferson made the team. This is Darnold’s first selection to the Pro Bowl, while Jefferson has made the squad for the fourth time in his five NFL seasons. The only year Jefferson missed was 2023 when he missed about half of the season with a hamstring injury.
Moving to the defensive side of the ball, three more members of the Vikings have been honored, with each of them making the Pro Bowl for the first time. Cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. made the squad, as did outside linebackers Andrew Van Ginkel and Jonathan Greenard.
Last, but not least, the Vikings’ special teams are represented by long snapper Andrew DePaola. This is the third time that DePaola has been named to the Pro Bowl, and this marks the first time that any long snapper has been named to the team in three consecutive years in NFL history. DePaola is also the only long snapper in Vikings history to be named to the Pro Bowl.
The Pro Bowl Games are scheduled for 2 February at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. That’s the week before the Super Bowl, which means that the six players mentioned might not even get an opportunity to participate if things go the way that we’d like them to. I’m sure the NFL will be able to find worthy replacements.
The Vikings’ six selections tie them with the Philadelphia Eagles for the third-most in the NFL. Only Baltimore (9) and Detroit (7) had more players named to this year’s Pro Bowl Games than the Vikings did.
Congratulations to Sam Darnold, Justin Jefferson, Byron Murphy Jr., Andrew Van Ginkel, Jonathan Greenard, and Andrew DePaola on being named to the NFC squad for this year’s Pro Bowl Games!
